INF103 Week 3 Discussion 2 Connecting Your Home Network to the Internet

It is important to make sure that your home wireless network is safe and secure.

The first important fact when setting up your wireless network is to change the administrative password and default name. It is important to create a strong password that is unique. It is important to make sure your network is not open as anyone can connect to it without your authentication. You would also want to make sure to set up a firewall. “A computer firewall is a coordinated collection of hardware and software that prevents outsiders from gaining access to your private data and also shields your computer from threats.” (Bowles 2013) You should only let people you trust use your wireless network and make sure their connections are encrypted. A security mechanism you can use is WPA2. You can also use a guest network so they can connect to your internet but no other network devices. Make sure your devices are secure. You can find out which devices are connected by install a simple network scanner like Fing. This scans your home network and tells you all the devices that are connected and then you can make sure they are all secured.

References

Bowles, M. D. (2013). Introduction to computer literacy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Siles (2016) Securing Your Home Network https://www.sans.org/security-awareness